Timeline and Steps for Kids Voting

DATE

ACTIVITY

August

Identify a teacher or administrator in your building who is willing to coordinate the Kids Voting program this fall. Time commitment would be approximately 1-2 hours in September, 4-6 hours in October and 4-6 hours in the first few weeks of November (leading up to the election). Information on the program can be found at www.mncivicyouth.org/kids-voting-minnesota-network/.

Once you’ve decided who will coordinate the program in your building, send his/her name and email to Amy Anderson, Executive Director of Minnesota Civic Youth, at amy@mncivicyouth.org.

Early September

Talk with your program coordinator about the election-focused lessons and education resources provided by Minnesota Civic Youth. Share the website link with all your teachers and encourage them to incorporate civic discussions and election-focused lessons in the weeks leading up to the election. The link is www.mncivicyouth.org/classroom-resources/.

Late September

Talk with your program coordinator about where you want to hold the building-wide voting on Election Day. Media Centers or Cafeterias generally work the best. You will need at least one adult or several taking shifts on Election Day to monitor the voting activities.

Determine a process for having all the students in your building come to the “polls” on Election Day to vote. One option is to use the same process as when students get their school pictures taken at the start of the year.

Identify “older students” (these can be the “oldest” students in your building, whether that is 5th grade, 8th grade or 12th grade) to count the ballots as the students vote. The task of counting the ballots can also be coordinated district-wide and handled by middle or high school student councils, national honor societies, or other civic-focused student groups.

Once you’ve finalized the location for the voting stations and who will be counting the ballots, share this information with all the teachers and administrators in your building so everyone knows the plan for Election Day.